Coalition Unites Around SDC Conservation Priorities and Wildlife Corridor Study

August 26, 2024 / Sonoma Land Trust / Leave a comment

August 26, 2024

With large-scale housing and resort hotel development proposed for the campus of the Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC) and a new regional headquarters for CAL FIRE in the planning stages, the 900-acre property is facing unprecedented threats to the integrity of a regionally important wildlife corridor and the abundant water resources of the Sonoma Creek watershed. In response, a coalition of NGO’s including the Sonoma Land Trust, Jack London Park Partners, Sonoma Ecology Center, and Audubon Canyon Ranch, have united to design and fund a comprehensive studyto develop recommendations for the conservation and enhancement of the irreplaceable natural resources of SDC.

As part of the final state budget approved in June 2024, the Legislature appropriated $200,000 in funding through the Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) to contribute to a study analyzing “the impacts on wildlife and habitat from the redevelopment plans for the core campus submitted to Sonoma County, the proposed siting of a new regional headquarters and fire station for CAL FIRE, and addition of portions of the property to Jack London State Historic Park.”

Sonoma Land Trust (SLT) is in the process of submitting a grant proposal to WCB to secure these funds and will match the investment to employ the leading scientists and experts to focus on three areas of research and recommendations:

Developing a baseline of current habitat conditions and wildlife use of the property
Designation of areas most appropriate for limited development and public use to protect sensitive wildlife habitat
Design guidelines that recommend avoidance, minimization, and mitigation measures for any known development plans for the property.

There are serious concerns that the various development proposals for the Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC) will lead to several negative environmental and community impacts, including increased fire risk, thousands of additional cars on already congested roads, water quality degradation, and the permanent loss of the rural and agricultural character of the Sonoma Valley. The recent Superior Court decision in the case of SCALE v. County of Sonoma highlights these issues. The Court found that the SDC Specific Plan included “toothless and vague” mitigation measures for environmental impacts and “did nothing more than set forth hopeful intentions and vague statements…with no definition of what any of this means.” The SDC Specific Plan was approved in December 2022, so the CAL FIRE regional headquarters project was not considered in the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) or planning documents..

It is unclear if or when Sonoma County will revise the SDC Specific Plan to comply with the Superior Court’s ruling that overturned the plan and its Environmental Impact Report (EIR). For Sonoma Land Trust and our partners, protecting the wildlife and habitat resources of SDC has always been the top priority for the property’s future use. Instead of waiting for the state or county to develop a meaningful conservation strategy, the community will be prepared this time with focused, science-based recommendations. These recommendations will guide any future development while ensuring that the wildlife corridor, water resources, and open spaces are not ignored or discounted.

Redevelopment Proposal for SDC Campus in Legal Limbo

August 26, 2024 / Sonoma Land Trust / Leave a comment

August 22, 2024

The developers chosen by the State of California to purchase the 180-acre Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC) campus faced a major legal challenge earlier this year. The Sonoma County Superior Court ruled in SCALE vs. The County of Sonoma that the Board of Supervisors violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) when they approved the SDC Specific Plan in December 2022. In a sweeping ruling overturning the Specific Plan and associated Environmental Impact Report (EIR), Judge Bradford DeMeo found that the “purported mitigation measures in the Plan are, as a whole, ineffective, vague, and devoid of any semblance of performance standards in violation of CEQA.”

As reported in the April 2023 Transform SDC article, the California Department of General Services chose Keith Rogal and Grupe Homes as the “selected buyer” for the redevelopment of the SDC campus. Promises of early community engagement were never realized as Rogal/Grupe filed a surprise application with Sonoma County in August 2023 that proposed a housing, hotel, and mixed-use development that far exceeded the 630 homes contemplated in the Specific Plan. As reported in an August 23, 2023 article in the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat article, the developers used a “newish interpretation of California law (SB 330) that allows developers to skirt local zoning ordinances and specific plans when a local jurisdiction doesn’t have a state-approved housing element” to propose over 930 homes for the environmentally-sensitive SDC site.

As Supervisor Susan Gorin said in the article, “I was absolutely blindsided, and Permit Sonoma was as well,” referring to the county’s planning and building agency. “It came in at the very last minute. I felt comfortable about Keith Rogal and Grupe, and how they were engaging the community. And this came out of nowhere.” Keith Rogal promised that “Six months from now, we will submit a full planning application that will have a lot more detail,” he said. “Along the way, starting very soon, we want to be getting lots of input and feedback, and we expect to improve and refine what we’re doing.”

The full application was submitted by Rogal/Grupe to Permit Sonoma in February 2024 with none of the promised public input, dialogue or refinements. In March, Permit Sonoma found the submittal incomplete with disagreements over the number of affordable units proposed, the placement of a hotel in the northwest corner of the campus along the wildlife corridor, the overreliance on single-family detached dwellings, and underutilization of housing types for middle-class buyers. Under the name ‘Eldridge Renewal,’ the developers resubmitted the application in June with an even higher housing count of over 960 homes, only to have it rejected again a month later as incomplete. The County found numerous shortcomings in the application, including a lack of sufficient detail on the placement and architectural design of the homes, no open space framework, not enough information on water supply and wastewater treatment, and numerous other deficiencies. Rogal/Grupe have 90 days to resubmit the application for a third round of review.

What does the April 2024 Superior Court ruling mean for the future redevelopment of SDC? Without an approved Specific Plan for the property, the developers have no underlying authority or Programmatic EIR to rely upon to determine what level of development is permitted, and what mitigation may be required to reduce significant environmental impacts. Even though the court overturned the Specific Plan, Rogal/Grupe can still legally proceed with their application for just the campus development. This will require a very detailed Project EIR, which will have none of the procedural advantages of using the Specific Plan as a reference point. Because the application falls under the auspices of SB 330, which streamlines approval for development to address California’s critical housing shortage, Permit Sonoma explained that while public hearings will be required before the project is reviewed, “there can be a maximum of five for a project like this, so none are being scheduled until the application is complete.”

As we await Judge DeMeo’s final published ruling, it remains to be seen when or if the Rogal/Grupe development proposal will be able to meet Permit Sonoma’s application completeness requirements.

SDC Site Assessment Process Resuming After Long Delay

February 14, 2018 / Sonoma Land Trust / 2 Comments

February 14, 2018.

As the state prepares to close the Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC) at the end of this year, there are a host of unanswered questions about the condition of the property, and potential reuse options. The October 2017 Nuns Fire had a dramatic impact on SDC, necessitating a mandatory evacuation of hundreds of residents and staff, and burning the eastern third of the property along Highway 12. SDC withstood the fires, and the remaining residents have all moved back in, but the other toll was a major interruption of the state’s site assessment process.

In May 2017, the state hired Wallace Roberts & Todd (WRT) to provide architectural and engineering services to prepare “a comprehensive existing conditions study and an opportunities and constraints summary and analysis for SDC.” This $2 million assessment process is complicated: SDC is housed on approximately 860 acres of State land, including a core campus with an estimated 1.3 million square feet of buildings on 180 acres.

To their credit, the state incorporated a strong community engagement plan as part of the WRT contract. In order to ensure that the site assessment is based on the best available data — and that the analysis is designed to answer the most pressing concerns of the local community —WRT created an SDC Community Advisory Committee (CAC). This Committee is comprised of a broad range of local stakeholders, and our purpose is “to provide comments to the WRT team on the Site Assessment findings and to offer input regarding the opportunities and constraints for the SDC site.”

The first meeting of the CAC was September 28^th. Ten days later, the fires raged through the North Bay, and the WRT goal of producing their reports and holding a series of community meetings by the end of 2017 was lost in the tumult of wildlife disaster response. We have stayed in touch with the WRT over the past few months, and they have made every effort to get the planning process back online with the state. After what essentially turned into a three month delay, the next CAC meeting has been scheduled for March 22^nd. Here are links to the September 28^th CAC meeting summary, and WRT’s presentation which documented their work to date on the site assessment:

SDC Community Advisory Committee Meeting

WRT Presentation on SDC Site Assessment

After the September CAC meeting, WRT was planning on finishing the site assessment, presenting the findings one more time to our committee, and then holding a public meeting in Sonoma where the whole community would be briefed on this critical information. According to the new timeline, after the CAC meets in March, the public meeting is likely to happen in mid-April. Once the site assessment is completed, we will reach a critical juncture: will WRT continue to lead the effort to develop reuse alternatives for SDC, and can we act quickly enough to have a plan in place before SDC closes in December?

The Transform SDC Blog site was set up in 2014 to provide the Sonoma Valley community — and those interested in the future of the Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC) — a forum and information source for news related to the closure of SDC. For more information, please post a response on the blog site, or email John McCaull at johnm@sonomalandtrust.org.

SDC clients return from a smoky odyssey

October 31, 2017 / Sonoma Land Trust / Leave a comment

One of the ongoing stories during the recent October Fires was the pilgrimage undertaken by the residents of the Sonoma Developmental Center, or SDC. Its Eldridge campus was in the path of the Nuns Fire early on Monday, Oct. 9, threatening not only the 112-year old campus but the remaining 241 residents, many of whom have lived at SDC for years, if not decades… Read More.

Update on Evacuation of Sonoma Developmental Center

October 19, 2017 / Sonoma Land Trust / 1 Comment

October 19, 2017.

This report was sent out to the members and friends of the Parent Hospital Association (PHA) and tells the incredible story of how the state safely moved all the resident and staff of the Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC) to the Dixon Fairgrounds.

Dear PHA families and friends:

Kathleen Miller and I are touching base to let you know that all appears well at the SDC Village that has been set up at the Dixon Fairgrounds. During our visit yesterday, we were amazed to see how comfortable our loved ones are, what care has been taken to ensure their physical, mental and spiritual health, the safety systems that are in place and to experience the calm and positive the atmosphere that has been created.

All of the nursing facility residents are together in their own area and each has his/her own bed, wheel chair and other special equipment that was transported last week from his/her room at SDC thanks to the National Guard. Staff is on duty and working hard to ensure that our loved ones have the care that is required. Other residents are enjoying their regularly scheduled meals, donations from the community, field trips, concerts, outdoor movie nights and other recreational activities.

Large FEMA-style tents have been erected to create an activity room, staff rest area, and storage for all extra equipment and supplies. Portable ADA compliant showers have been set up and the kitchen is producing all normal meals in accordance with dietary needs. The SDC pharmacy has been relocated to the Fairgrounds and all the regular medications are available and administered on schedule; the SDC physicians and nurses from the units are on duty and making their regular rounds. Normal schedules are being maintained including the administration of routine flu shots for staff and residents.

The atmosphere was one of normalcy with hint of a grand adventure. There is one entrance and only staff and family members with appropriate identification are allowed into the SDC Village. Security is provided by police and National Guard units. National Guard units continue to provide all security and guard services back at SDC to ensure that all remains as it was left on October 9th.

Kathleen and I were both very impressed by what we saw and with the people we talked with yesterday. Sadly, we did learn that some staff have lost homes or are also evacuated from their own homes; some are able to stay at the Fairgrounds in their own evacuee tents when off duty. But in spite of all that the staff is going through with long hours and extended commutes, they continue to make certain that our family members are doing well and enjoying themselves in spite of being in new surroundings and experiencing new routines. The air quality was much less of an issue than in areas much closer to the fires. Nancy Bargmann, Director of the Department of Developmental Disabilities, is on site daily and the personal and political support of the Governor Jerry Brown and Secretary Diana Dooley has been critical to the success of not one but two evacuations and the stabilization and care of our family members.

Kathleen and I would also like to commend the staff that were responsible for the efficient and thorough evacuation of SDC in the early morning of Monday, October 9th. We were told that their adherence to the evacuation plan, their quick and calm responses and the way in which units were left in order were truly remarkable and were commented upon by the emergency services inspection team who came to officially confirm that SDC was fully evacuated. We would also like to thank the out of area first responders who arrived to help with the evacuation of the last two units.

I also want to say that after seeing my own daughter at the Veterans Memorial Hall in Sonoma last Tuesday and after seeing everyone at the Dixon Fairgrounds yesterday, I am confident that it is safe and appropriate to continue to work with our Regional Center and SDC staff to implement our original transition planning process/ timeline and I don’t feel the need to accelerate my daughter’s placement process. I look forward to the return to SDC and a return to normal schedules and activities when it is deemed safe and appropriate to return.

At this time, the next general PHA meeting is scheduled for the second Saturday in November and will be in the Slater Building at SDC. Please watch for information about the November PHA meeting and about the Sonoma Town Hall meeting which will address future land use issues at SDC.

All our best,

Kathleen Miller

Karen Moen

Co-Presidents, PHA

A Busy Fall for SDC Site Assessment and Community Engagement

October 2, 2017 / Sonoma Land Trust / Leave a comment

October 2, 2017.

It’s been several months since we provided an update on the status of the closure and reuse planning process for the Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC). As reported in May, the state Department of General Services has contracted with the San Francisco-based architectural and engineering firm Wallace Roberts & Todd (WRT) for a $2 million contract to perform a “site assessment” of the 860-acre SDC property, which is scheduled for closure as a residential hospital by the end of 2018. Since their kick-off meeting in May, the WRT team has been hard at work examining the buildings, infrastructure, historical resources, and natural lands of SDC. WRT expects to have the site assessment and “constraints analysis” completed in mid-December, and this fall signals the start of the community engagement phase of their work plan. Here is the lineup of meetings scheduled for the next few months:

September 28th and November 2nd: Meetings of SDC Community Advisory Committee

The community advisory committee (see roster and agenda for 9/28/17 meeting) was created by the state to provide advice and feedback to WRT on the site assessment process. This committee has not been formed to start developing reuse ideas, but rather to make sure that key local stakeholders can comment on the preliminary site assessment findings, and their implication on opportunities and constraints for the SDC site. We will post a summary of the September 28th meeting and the background materials distributed by WRT on the blog site in the next week or so.

October 21: SDC Town Hall Meeting at Altimira Middle School, Sonoma, CA

(Morning meeting, details and agenda pending)

Supervisor Susan Gorin and several of our state legislators are going to host a “town hall” style community forum on the current status of the SDC closure process, the state’s investment in a “safety net” for clients moving from SDC, and an update on the site assessment process. Supervisor Gorin is working closely with Senators Mike McGuire and Bill Dodd, and Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry to develop the agenda, and as soon as it’s official, we will post more details on the blog site.

December 2: SDC Community Workshop hosted by WRT and State of California

(Afternoon meeting, details and agenda pending)

As a follow-up to the SDC Community Advisory Committee meetings (which are invite only and not open to the general public) WRT and state agency officials will be holding a community workshop on December 2nd to present the results of the site assessment and answer questions from the audience. We don’t have an agenda or location for the meeting yet, but we will post that information on the blog site as soon as it becomes available. Please mark your calendars for the October 21st and December 2nd community meetings, and get ready for a busy fall and winter of SDC-related news and events.

Specialized Medical Home to be Established in Sonoma County for SDC Residents and Developmentally Disabled

December 19, 2016December 19, 2016 / Sonoma Land Trust / Leave a comment

December 19, 2016:

Sonoma Developmental Center residents and Regional Center clients will be able to receive healthcare close to home from a state-funded health center expansion

Sacramento, CA – With the Sonoma Developmental Center slated for closure by 2018, nearly 350 of the most medically fragile patients in the state system will transition into the community and require specialized healthcare services. Senator McGuire and Sonoma County Supervisor Susan Gorin have been committed to ensuring that the health and well-being of SDC residents will be the top priority during and after the transition and closure of the facility.

To that end, and while there is a lot of work to do in the year to come, Senator McGuire, Supervisor Gorin and the State Department of Developmental Services announce that a Request For Proposal (RFP) will be advanced at the end of this month to establish a healthcare hub in Sonoma County in a to-be-determined Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) that will be dedicated to residents with developmental disabilities.

The hub will serve the residents of the SDC and hundreds of other individuals with developmental disabilities within the Regional Center system.

Working with the Department and its Director, Nancy Bargmann, $2.5 million in community placement plan funding has been secured for the North Bay Regional Center to develop a healthcare hub that will be embedded in a to-be-determined FQHC located in Sonoma County. This hub will offer residents high quality healthcare, dental care, mental health and adaptive services. These services will be specially designed for individuals with developmental disabilities. This investment will create unique exam rooms – with special adaptive equipment – that will cater to individuals with developmental disabilities.

“We know that this closure process has been extremely difficult to so many residents and their families over the past three years. Many have called the SDC home for decades and we have been working overtime to ensure the most medically fragile in the State system receive quality healthcare close to home, now, and into the future,” Senator McGuire said. “This investment is so important. Not only will it keep health care, dental and mental health here in Sonoma County, we are creating a new health care home for hundreds of Californians who need specialized services to thrive.”

The nearly 350 individuals who currently live at the SDC today are some of the most medically fragile or most behaviorally involved consumers in the developmental services system.

That is why Senator McGuire, Supervisor Gorin and the County of Sonoma, the Parent Hospital Association, the Department of Developmental Services and the North Bay Regional Center have been focused on keeping a specialized healthcare home thriving in Sonoma County.

“Ensuring access to essential services for residents of the SDC has been of critical importance to me and the County of Sonoma,” commented Supervisor Gorin. “I have been working for a number of years with a local coalition of stakeholders to develop a vision for the future of the SDC and its residents, and appreciate Senator McGuire’s efforts at a state level to realize the health resource center concept in Sonoma County. The Coalition had hoped to site the health center at the Sonoma Developmental Center. Although we are disappointed that model is not feasible, we are pleased that specialized services will be available to North Bay clients in the near future.”

This investment will create unique exam rooms catered to individuals with developmental disabilities. There will be specialized services delivered by uniquely trained medical professionals, along with specialized services for shoes and durable medical equipment.

This is the first time the Department and Regional Center have partnered with a local community to fund a comprehensive healthcare hub with specialized services for individuals with developmental disabilities.

In addition to the new healthcare hub, working with Assemblymember Dodd, Senator McGuire passed a new law this year that mandates monitoring and evaluating the transition of residents from Developmental Centers to the community to ensure the state follows through with its commitment to provide appropriate services to developmentally disabled Californians.

This new law created a much more robust tracking system, and as Developmental Centers close and any issues are discovered, immediate steps can be taken during this transition if appropriate services and housing are not being provided.

Senator McGuire will attend the Parent Hospital Association’s January meeting to provide more information and updates on the RFP, the $2.5 million and services that will be offered.

Provided courtesy of Senator Mike McGuire’s Media Release.

For Immediate Release: December 16, 2016
Contact: Kerrie Lindecker, Kerrie.Lindecker@sen.ca.gov or (707) 319-3654

Bill Approved to Help Monitor Transitional Developmental Center Residents

September 26, 2016 / Sonoma Land Trust / Leave a comment

September 26, 2016:

Senator Mike McGuire has spent the past two years working with the state and local officials, families, residents, staff and providers to ensure a safe and seamless transition for the nearly 400 medically fragile residents who call the Sonoma Developmental Center their home.

SB 982 will be an important tool to track a minimum of 250 residents for two consecutive years starting from the time they leave their developmental center. It will assure that the State is providing the services needed for residents to thrive within the community.

“This new tracking study will hold the state accountable and bring needed transparency to the transition process. We’re at a defining moment for our state as major changes are made to the system of care for California’s developmentally disabled residents,” Senator McGuire said. “We have to ensure that as Developmental Centers are slated for closure, we are closely monitoring the health and well-being of residents so that immediate steps can be taken during this transition if appropriate services and housing are not being provided.”

State and County Kick off Planning Efforts for the Future of SDC

August 2, 2016 / Sonoma Land Trust / Leave a comment

August 2, 2016:

As reported in our last blog post of June 14^th (State Budget Framework For Sonoma Developmental Center Closure Finalized):

“DDS and the Legislature are very focused on how to expand and improve community services to absorb residents moving from SDC and other developmental centers that are closing in California. There have been no major breakthroughs yet in terms of an agreement for continuing services on site, but our state legislators, Supervisor Gorin, the Sonoma County Department of Health Services and the Transform SDC Coalition will continue to push for the vision of a health resource center on the SDC campus.”

One of the arguments that DDS and the state have made against any planning for continued health care services on the SDC campus beyond the closure date of December 2018 is that the property’s infrastructure is degraded, and the state needs to conduct a full site assessment before even considering any specific reuse proposals.

Long-awaited funding for comprehensive planning has been approved, and we are about to enter a new much more active phase in the SDC closure process. The Transform SDC Coalition will be planning a Fall 2016 Workshop to prepare for the site assessment and reuse alternatives planning process. We will provide more information by the end of August.

State of California Seeking Consultants to Conduct SDC Site Assessment and Develop Reuse Alternatives

As part of the FY 2016-2017 budget signed into law by Governor Brown in June, the Department of General Services received $2.2 million to fund the preparation of a detailed site assessment for the property, and:

“to create conceptual master land use and facilities reuse plan alternatives that will take into consideration physical, environmental, political and governmental factors that may impact the reuse of…SDC.”

On July 8^th, the state Department of General Services issued a “Request for Qualifications” (RFQ) for licensed architectural and engineering firms to provide a scope of work and cost estimates for:

“professional architectural, engineering, and master land use planning and consulting services…to develop conceptual master land use and facilities reuse plan alternatives for SDC.”

We have attached a copy of the RFQ at the bottom of this post. The deadline for firms to submit their Statement of Qualifications is September 7^th. DGS will then interview a select number of applicants, and will hire a firm to start work in early 2017. One of the most important credentials for any firm that is hired is their ability to work with our local community to identify alternative reuse options for SDC that are consistent with the vision for the property. We are putting the word out to consulting firms that we have worked with—and that have worked on large-scale land use planning projects—to make sure they are aware of the opportunity. We welcome your feedback and ideas for good candidates as well!

What are the state’s goals for the future of SDC? Can the state hire a team of professionals who can lead an inclusive community planning effort for the future of SDC that achieves our stated vision for the property? It’s worth repeating the vision statement we developed through our community engagement process with all of you last year:

Create a public-private partnership driven by community ideas and values that showcases the site’s history, maintains critical services for the developmentally disabled, provides opportunities for creative reuse of SDC’s assets, and preserves the natural resources and open space of the site.

There is reasons for hope that the state is very interested in working with the SDC Coalition and the County to develop a set of alternative uses for the property that are a positive outcome for the Valley, and for the entire region. The RFQ issued by the state says that:

“The purpose of the plans is to assist the state, County of Sonoma and stakeholders in identifying alternative reuse options for the SDC. The conceptual plans shall give consideration to alternatives that diversify and enhance the Sonoma Valley’s economy and establish models for sustainable development and economic self-sufficiency; preserve the distinct character of the Sonoma Valley’s rural communities and SDC’s natural, historical, and architectural integrity; and, protect SDC’s open space, valuable natural and scenic resources to support healthy wildlife populations, water resources, and recreational opportunities.”

Sonoma County Department of Health Services Issues Request for Proposals for Federally Qualified Health Center for Intellectually and Developmentally Disabled Individuals.

The County of Sonoma has been an incredible partner over the past few years as we all have tried to grapple with the closure of SDC. The leadership of Susan Gorin has been matched by the skills and dedication of numerous county agencies that have put in hundreds of staff hours on this effort. The impact of the closure of SDC on Sonoma County is very significant. The economic disruption of the closure of SDC has yet to be felt, but the potential loss of over 1000 jobs and the success of placing over 300 current residents in community homes is a local and regional priority for County government.

Under the leadership of Director Stephan Betz, the Sonoma County Department of Health Services has adopted a proactive and visionary approach to the future of SDC. Making sure that the 300+ current residents end up in good living arrangements coupled with convenient and appropriate medical care is everyone’s top priority right now. But there is a larger opportunity: establishing a new regional health care facility for people with developmental challenges that is uniquely designed to serve their needs. In response to this need, the Department recently issued a Request for Proposals for a “Federally Qualified Health Center for Intellectually and Developmentally Disabled Individuals.” The Department is soliciting proposals:

“from interested providers outlining their proposed approach to provide medical, dental and behavioral health services to former SDC residents, current clients of the North Bay Regional Center (NRBC) and other regional centers, as well as other intellectually and developmentally disabled (I/DD) individuals residing in Sonoma County and surrounding communities beginning in 2018.”

You are going to be hearing a lot about “FQHC’s” in the months to come, so get used to the acronym! FQHCs are outpatient clinics that qualify for specific reimbursement systems under Medicare and Medicaid. You may get your own out-patient health care at an existing Sonoma County FQHC such as the Santa Rosa or Sonoma Valley Community Health Centers. The County has a strong interest in developing partnerships with FQHCs as the SDC approaches closure to meet the needs of the former SDC residents, clients of regional centers and other individuals. Additionally, FQHCs are uniquely positioned to utilize enhanced Medi-Cal payments.

The deadline for submittals for the County’s RFQ process is August 26^th. We will report back on what sort of applications the County receives, and next steps. The RFQ is also attached at the end of this post.

SDC Site Assessment RFQ July 2016

Sonoma County RFQ for FQHC Proposals July 2016

Regional Centers will take over from SDC

July 1, 2016 / Sonoma Land Trust / Leave a comment

July 1, 2016:

An excerpt from a conversation with North Bay Regional Center Director Bob Hamilton:

From the day they learned that Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC) was to be shuttered, the parents and loved ones of those who live there have been anguished over what will happen to their charges. They have made it abundantly clear that they do not expect SDC residents to receive the same level of care they have enjoyed at the 125-year-old institution situated on a thousand acres of lush Sonoma countryside outside of Glen Ellen.

“Some people think we are the devil,” Bob Hamilton said, smiling but semi-serious. Hamilton is executive director of the North Bay Regional Center, one of California’s 21 privately run regional centers responsible for administering care to the vast majority of developmentally disabled people in the state.

Hamilton, a Kenwood resident for many years, is past retirement age but continues to put in well over 40 hours a week doing his job, which he is passionate about.

“This is a joy, a labor of love. I would not do it otherwise.”